The Wellness Tally So Far

Failed Concealer Purchases No 1: The drugstore brand that when tried on the wrist in the bright white light of Boots looks amazing, but fails to match the blue-toned under-eye circles you later attempt to cover at home. Failed Concealer Purchases No 2: The go-to winter favourite which looks ash-grey and ghostly post-summer. And never somehow recovers its seasonal advantage…Failed Concealer Purchases No 3: The spot cover-up which no amount of building and layering and careful powdering will keep in place and which ends up on a sleeve/phone/coffee cup seconds after painstaking application.

“Clarendon, Rise, Hudson... I mean at 50 surely the best filter is a paper bag over your head?”

On a long wooden table in Val Garland’s kitchen, slap bang in the middle of an array of mascaras, concealers, eye palettes and lipsticks, sit two pictures of myself, which the make-up artist and I are analysing. Exhibit One (above): a portrait by Vogue photographer Richard Burbridge, whose work I’ve always loved. His lighting - particularly for beauty pictures, which he is famous for - is incredible, bringing an intense glow to the faces of those who are lucky enough to sit before him, so I’m not surprised that I love it so much. Exhibit Two (below): a snap by Vogue beauty director Jessica Diner, taken at the same time, post-make-up and mid-getting my hair done. It’s relaxed, spontaneous, and feels like “me” off duty, and because it has the added benefit of having Sam McKnight in the frame, I love it just as much.

Advertisement

What both images have in common is Garland’s exquisite make-up, which stands up to scrutiny even without Burbridge’s incredible lighting. And I’m hoping to prove to Elspeth that good make-up can and should be its own filter. From memory, Garland did it in barely 30 minutes, and didn’t apply foundation at all. As you get older, you’d think you’d need more foundation, more concealing, more everything but clearly, it’s a much more light-handed process.

Read next

The 50 Diaries: November

ByKathleen Baird-Murray

“Every woman has the right to feel beautiful” says Garland, surveying the images. “It’s very easy as a make-up artist to make up a young woman to look beautiful. But the real skill is to make an older woman look beautiful. The best tip I ever had was from Helen Mirren. “How do you always look so young and relaxed?” I once asked her. And she said, 'I smile a lot'. So that’s your best beauty secret, right there.”

Garland, a sprightly 61 herself, is as famous for telling it like it is as she is for her make-up skills (as her new book, Validated will testify - page after page of anecdotes and make-up memories from a stellar career spanning three decades). She examines the contents of my make-up bag like a forensic scientist. “What you have to remember is that at 50 you don’t have to hide any imperfections,” she says, looking for the concealer. “You just have to trick the way people look at you.”

Advertisement

What she means by “tricking” the way people look at you, is in fact a series of clever tips that divert the eye from complexion challenges like, say, pigmentation or melasma, that usually get covered up in the pursuit of a so-called flawless complexion.

“At this age it’s all about spot foundation just where you need it, or mixing your foundation with a bit of moisturiser. Or using a tinted moisturiser like those by Bobbi Brown or Laura Mercier.” Garland’s first choice for a "base that isn’t a base" is Chanel Tan de Soleil Bronze Universel. “It has no shimmer - you just swish it all over. I also like Charlotte Tilbury’s Wonder Glow, which is an excellent product worn on its own or under another product. And then follow with a good concealer. Where’s your concealer?”

She suggests I emphasise my freckles in real life, which disappeared a little under the glare of the studio lighting, by drawing them on myself with an eye pencil, because freckles are instantly joyous and youthful. Another trick - when pencilling in brows: go for a slightly shorter shape than you might have done in the past, so that they don’t tail off down the sides of your eye but instead finish slightly higher. “Otherwise they can drag your face downwards, which is very ageing.”

Read next

The 50 Diaries: September

The 50 Diaries: September

The 50 Diaries

24 Sep 2018

She also advocates avoiding big old cat-line eyeliner shapes (especially, god forbid, with a red lip). “Eyes or lips, not both - make one strong statement. And switch to a brown or soft charcoal black which is kinder on the eyes.” To create a slightly smudgy line, which is flattering on all ages, Garland likes to draw a line on the upper lid with L’Oréal Paris Tattoo Signature in Black, a liquid liner, but then she smudges it with a Jay Manuel brush, which is slightly domed. “Then I go back over it with a line of eyeshadow for a night-time smokiness.” Her current favourite eyeshadow is from the Isabel Marant Smoke palette, a collection she created with the designer for L’Oréal Paris. “It’s best applied with an angle brush. Just go over the liquid liner you first applied, with a little powder, and tickle it into a slightly messy, smoky line using very small upward strokes and working your way along the lid.”

It transpires my own make-up bag isn’t too bad. “If I had to choose four essential items that every woman over 50 should own it would be a good eyebrow pencil - Gisele recommended a great one the other day by Dior (Diorshow Brow Styler in Chestnut); a brilliant mascara like L’Oréal Paris Unlimited Mascara; the Chanel Tan de Soleil bronzer; and a lipstick like this one by L’Oréal Paris x Isabel Marant in Palais Royal Field,” she says, daubing some on the back of her hand, a glorious tomato-red shade. “Oh, and make sure you have a good magnifying mirror at home.” (Younger readers look away now: this is an essential item once your eyesight starts to go, which it does, sadly, after about 45).

Validated: The Book Every Make-Up Enthusiast Needs In Their Collection

Beauty News

08 Oct 2018

Advertisement

And then she spots that somehow I am missing that elusive concealer. “You really do need a decent one,” she says. “Why don’t you try Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer which goes on as a liquid but dries down and stays put? Lots of coverage but you only need a few drops.”

“You know,” she says, as we flick through her book, Validated, marvelling at the images of glowing skin on young - and old - faces that present themselves throughout, “I like the idea of imperfections; you’re seeing more of the actual person. The important thing with make-up - whatever your age - is that you do whatever you want. But please god, don’t lose sight of who you are.”

And with that, and with a new make-up shopping list inspired by her suggestions, I vow to keep fighting the filtered perfectionism on Instagram that stealthily invades our lives, along with Elspeth’s paper bag filter. I look fine just as I am. And so do you. And so do we all. But I will get that concealer.

Try: I’ve been keeping up the work on the headstand - sporadically, but effectively - and now that I’m back in London am enjoying lessons with Melody Hekmat who is Jivamukti-trained and practices at Sangye Yoga, Triyoga, Bodyism and KxU as well as offering one-on-ones. And is strong enough to yank me up, because sadly, I still need yanking. Buy: It’s lip balm season. Like hair elastics and socks, they have an odd habit of disappearing just when you need them most. I’m stocking up on Sister & Co’s Raw Coconut Lip Tonic in Lemon Myrtle and Wild Mint, which is satisfyingly tingly and deeply moisturizing. Do: It could be my age, it could be the shift from summer to autumn; it could be that as a vegetarian I’m not eating enough protein, but my hair definitely feels thinner at the moment. Ingesting Philip Kingsley PK4 Soya Protein Capsules and a re-think of my diet is in order.